Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt are among eight Scottish universities where University College Union (UCU) member staff are planning strikes. They are against proposed pension changes that could be implemented from 1 April.

The University of Edinburgh has issued guidance to staff planning to strike on its website. In it, the university's HR director Sheila Gupta said:

"We hope very much that the strike action will not go ahead, and would encourage all staff to attend work on the strike days, specifically in support of our commitment to our students."

"In brief, the dispute over pensions originates in our employers decision to switch from a final salary scheme to a career averaged scheme for new entrants and to increase contributions for those already earning a pension. Pensions increases will be switched from an RPI link to a CPI link and will be capped at 5%, or 2.5% for deferred pensions."

The UCU has case studies of how pensions might be affected on its website.